12.09.2009

Brains and Brawn

Bei really enjoys swimming these days with his "gurggles"!

As I have blogged before, I do day care on Wednesdays for our little neighbor girl. Two events this afternoon struck a cord with me in regards to how children differ in their misbehavior and how smart they are to use their strengths. Here is what happened: The minute Vanna walked in Bei was a pistol. We usually have 30 minutes of music time where we dance to the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance, etc...well he was a rascal and didn't want to dance and that meant he didn't want me to dance. Once he realized that wasn't going to stop me dancing, then he wanted me to hold him while I danced...ugh...kid!!!! So after lunch, Bei had been in a timeout once already and Vanna was headed for one soon, if she kept pushing her behavior. Basically, I am exasperated already...and it has only been an hour. We went down stairs and I decided that maybe if I did something visual for them to see, it would help them keep their behavior in check and they would try to get along with one another. So I told them that if they were good for 1 hour, then each of them would get a popsicle. I told them "I'm writing your name on the chalk board, so at the end of the hour if your name is still up here, then, I'll know that you get a popsicle." "Okay?" I get a deer in the headlight look from both of them and they go back to playing very nicely with one another. I get busy folding clothes and Bei gets up, grabs a paper towel, erases Savanah's name, and then continues to play with Vanna. Luckily, Savanah doesn't say anything to this, so I just go and write her name again. Bei gets up to go to the board and says "Vanna doesn't get a popsicle because her name is not on the board" and proceeds to wipe it out again. Bei gets a warning, he does it again, and he will have his name erased and no popsicle...little smarty pants... They are playing nicely again with a little peoples slide and each of them have a foam ball. They are taking turns letting it slide down the slide. Vanna's ball goes flying across the room. She quietly gets up and begins to walk towards her ball and as she is walking past Bei, she graps the collar of his shirt and drags him along with her so that he doesn't get a turn before she returns with her ball. It was actually quite comical because it was so unexpected and poor Bei didn't have a chance because he was being dragged backwards across the playroom floor.

Apparently, Bei's way in dealing with Savanah is cerebral, trying to outsmart me, so she won't get a treat. While Vanna is totally physical because I promise you, she will someday win the Iron Man contest...she is the most incredibly strong 3 year old I have ever met! I have to watch myself if I'm down on the floor because she likes to jump on my back and grab me around the throat with her arm...I'm usually gasping to Bei to "dial 911". Anyway, Bei kind of won in the end, he got what he wanted,because Savanah's name was taken off the board and she didn't get a popsicle. As most of you know, I am a softy and I gave her another chance to behave for the following hour and she did, so she eventually got her popsicle.

All I have to say is I have two smart kids on my hands that know how to use their strengths to their advantage.